


Back in Time

by krafty



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst?, Apocalypse, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego doesn't remember anything I don't know why, Gen, How Do I Tag, OOC, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves, Time Travel, Young Diego Hargreeves, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:15:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krafty/pseuds/krafty
Summary: The Hargreeves go back in time, hoping to stop the apocalypse. Everything seems fine, except... Diego's apparently a teenager? And he doesn't seem to remember anything past a certain date.This... could be interesting.Set after s1idk what I'm doing :')edit: ahhh forgot to mention it's probably ooc, I know that bothers people so I'm sorry I forgot lol
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Everyone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 93





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Heey, thanks for checking out my fic lol. It's kind of bad so far but I hope someone gets a kick out of it?

The blue light from Five’s powers surrounds the Hargreeves siblings just as the world crumbles around them. It burns to ash barely a second after they disappear. It’s too bad the world had to end regardless of their attempts to save it, but at least they’ve got another shot.

They find themselves tumbling into the grassy courtyard right outside the mansion, where they’d had their dad’s funeral the first time around. The sky is a dark blend of purples and blues, with a smattering of blindingly bright stars. They twinkle and shine in the night sky.

The siblings lie in the damp grass. Minutes pass, and no one dares to move. It’s nice to pretend that nothing is wrong just yet. That there isn’t an impending apocalypse to avoid. Anything to feel better, right?

Then Klaus breaks the silence by sitting up and mumbling to himself.

“What year is it?” he groans. He’s staring at something (some _one_?) no one else can see.

“I’ll check,” Allison says. She gets to her feet and stumbles into the darkened mansion, still dizzy. A few minutes pass as everyone else tries to catch their breath. When she comes back, she looks happy. “It’s 2019!”

“Sweet!” Klaus and Allison high five each other.

“What _month_ is it?” Five asks, struggling to stand. Klaus looks to Allison, who shrugs.

“Great.”

“Look,” Luther starts, getting up now that the vertigo is gone, “We’re all tired, and it’s been a long night. Let’s just get some sleep and figure everything out in the morning.”

“Fine,” Five grumbles, going to his room. The rest of the Hargreeves follow suit. Luther carries Vanya because she’s passed out, but everyone else goes on their own.

In the darkness of their respective rooms, everyone thinks. They made it to 2019, and all in one piece at that. That’s great, but it’s also concerning. There should be something wrong, right?

But no one sees anything _wrong._

That’s infinitely more terrifying than being in 2015 or landing in the wrong state.

Guess they’ll have to keep an eye out for anything weird tomorrow. If there even _is_ anything wrong.


	2. Figuring it Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umm, they all talk about the apocalypse, and then they realize Diego's a teenager

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why Five seems meaner in this one. Maybe not? But that was an accident! Sorry lol

Five wakes up before the majority of his siblings. He usually gets up early, so this is no surprise. He changes into his usual outfit because that’s all that fits his teenage body.

He makes his way to the kitchen and starts to brew himself a coffee. He listens for any possible movements while he waits, in case one of his siblings appears and wants to talk.

He doesn’t even have a plan, other than trying to help Vanya figure out her power. That’s about it. He has no idea how he’s going to start doing that.

He grabs a mug and pours himself some coffee before sitting at the table. He remembers the day he’d wanted to time travel. His dad had said that spatial jumps were nothing compared to traveling through time. He was right about that, at least.

He sits in his old seat. He vividly remembers waiting for Reginald to sit down before he did. It’s been so long since those days.

He hears someone clambering down the steps and can only assume that it’s Luther. That man can’t be quiet to save his life.

“Oh, hey Five,” he greets. Five nods at his sibling, still sipping from his drink. Luther sits in his old seat, too. He clears his throat, and Five glances up.

“Yes?”

“What’s our game plan here?”

“Our ‘ _game plan_ ’ is to stop the apocalypse.”

“Oh, fun! And how do we plan on doing that?” Klaus asks, sauntering into the room. Unlike his brother, he can walk without waking the rest of the house.

“Vanya could go back on the pills,” Luther suggests. Five shakes his head.

“She needs to learn to control it. We can’t just keep her on pills forever.”

Klaus groans, “Can’t we just _ask_ her? She’s our sister, not some serial killer.”

“She almost killed everyone on the planet, if you _somehow_ forgot.”

“Fair–” he sits on the table– “but we should still ask her. She’s human.” Five nods.

“All right.”

“Did– did you just agree with me? Are you feeling all right?” Klaus moves to check his brother’s temperature jokingly.

Five swats him away, “Stop that.”

So the Hargreeves siblings trickle into the room, one by one. Five finishes his coffee and listens to them talk about nothing in particular. Klaus is chatting with a ghost (Ben, if he had to guess), and Luther and Allison are talking to each other.

When Vanya comes down, Luther is struggling to make pancakes while Klaus laughs at him. Everyone else in the room goes silent as she enters.

Instead of saying something, she goes to her old seat. There’s an awkward silence as they all stare at each other.

“Heyy, sis,” Klaus greets, all cheery like usual. Vanya smiles at him. The conversation picks up again, just like that. Everyone happily ignores the elephant in the room.

A few minutes pass. Luther tries to scrape off some of the more decent pancakes for his siblings. Most of them are too burnt to be edible at this point. He pushes the dark scraps onto a few plates and brings them to the table. When they’re all sitting down, attempting to eat the poorly cooked pancakes (no offense, Luther), Five clears his throat. 

“So, I think we all know what we have to talk about.” Vanya looks away as everyone nods. “Great. Anyone have any ideas?”

“I- I could go back on the pills for a while. I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

“Hey, no, you’re not going back on those,” Klaus says, shaking his head. Five shrugs.

“I do agree that you have to learn how to control your powers. You can’t just take the pills forever.”

“But– she’s dangerous!” Luther exclaims. “We could put her on them for a few days, at least.”

While Luther and Five argue about Vanya, Klaus gasps, surveying the room.

“You’re right.” He stares at his siblings, who are still fighting. Five barely glances at him. “Umm, guys?”

“What?” Five snaps, a little angrier than he wants. Klaus points to Diego’s empty seat.

“Diego’s not here,” he says, and after a minute, adds, “Ben pointed it out.” Five rolls his eyes.

“Ugh, I’ll get him.” He walks over to Diego’s old room and knocks loudly. “Family meeting. Hurry up.”

A minute of silence and he goes inside. Diego is staring at him, eyes wide, knife in hand. He seems shocked that Five performed a spatial jump.

That’s fine and all, but he looks… different. Five quirks a brow and stares at him.

Oh.

Diego looks young. Like, _really_ young. 

At least they know what went wrong.

“W-who are you?!” the teenager shouts, brandishing one of his many knives, and huh, that’s probably not good.

“I’m Five, your brother,” he replies, cool as ever, blatantly ignoring the blade in his face.

“What? Y-you.. oh.” He lowers his arm, staring back at Five with some kind of confused fascination. “I thought you left?”

What. The hell?

“Diego, come on. Let’s just go downstairs. Everyone’s waiting.” He opens the door and waits for his brother to move. He tries not to think about how Diego didn’t recognize him. It was probably a joke, after all, and they don’t have time for things like that. Not with the apocalypse coming so soon. Not with Vanya and the issue with her way too strong powers.

His brother hesitates, seemingly confused at the prospect of people waiting on him, before he walks into the hallway. Five shuts the door and heads to the table, Diego trailing behind uncomfortably.

When they round a corner and enter the room, Diego halts.

“W-who are these people?” he asks, catching everyone's attention. Five groans, turning back around.

“They’re your siblings. And we don’t have _time_ for this! We’ve got an apocalypse to stop, _remember_? Impending doomsday? Does that ring a bell?” He sits down and watches Diego’s face go through a whirlwind of emotions. Confusion, terror, acceptance. He sits in his seat and shifts uncomfortably under the attention he’s getting.

“Five, dearest brother, if I may ask… what did you do to Diego?”

“What did _I_ do? He’s fine, he’s just… like me now. Has to be stuck in a teenage body.” He stares for a second, then adds, “At least I think so.”

“Well then why does he look so confused?” Allison asks, gesturing to their brother, and okay, good point. He’s looking at everyone at the table, brows knitted together. He looks vaguely upset.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, maybe we should talk to him,” Klaus suggests. He turns to Diego. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Diego frowns, “I uh- I don’t know w-who you are.”

“I’m Klaus–” he waves, smiling– “hii.”

“B-but you look o-o–, uh, y-you look different.”

“Who wants to explain? Anyone?” Five asks, looking around the table. Luther groans.

“Okay, fine. So, Diego–” he pauses, no doubt trying to word this correctly– “We all just escaped a future apocalypse that we need to prevent, and for some reason, you turned into a kid.” He says it as quickly as he can, probably hoping Diego won’t hear. Dumb tactic. It never works, or at least when Luther tries to do it. Now is no exception, it seems.

“W-what?” 

“We all escaped an apocalypse that we need to prevent, and for some reason, you’re a teenager now.”

“Oh. A-and who are you?”

“I’m Luther, that’s Allison, she’s Vanya, he's Five, and that’s Klaus,” he says, pointing at each person as he says their name. Diego nods.

“A-and you’re all really from the f-future? O-or?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Oh. What happened to m-me?”

“That’s what we don’t know yet,” Five replies, shaking his head. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Diego tenses, “Uh, I remember going on a m-mm-mission, and coming home l-late.” Five nods.

“We’ll have to figure this out sooner or later, but Vanya clearly takes top priority–” he looks at everyone except Diego– “so just make sure he doesn’t do anything _stupid,_ as he is prone to doing.” Diego looks like he wants to argue, but he keeps his mouth shut.

Okay, this is fine. They just have to save the world with a teenage Diego. No big deal.

Right?


	3. Chapter Three :3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't even remember what this one's about, to be honest. I think there's sibling bonding but I'm not exactly sure lol

Diego can just _barely_ hear the vague, muffled sounds of yelling. They’re coming from down, down, down, hidden deep in the mansion somewhere. Five refused to tell anyone where it was coming from when asked. He’d decided to train Vanya in a secret room, away from everyone else. Apparently it was too dangerous for any of them to handle. It all sounds like a load of bull, but who is Diego to question it? He’s a teenager, and he’s clearly missed out on a lot of stuff. He didn’t even know Vanya _had_ powers, until a few days ago.

His gaze flits back to the knives sitting in front of him. He’s sitting in the kitchen, sharpening his knife collection. They don’t really need it, but doing _something_ just makes him feel… better, somehow. More at ease. Between the end of the world and meeting all of his (older?) siblings, he’s got a lot to think about.

He sighs to himself. He knows that these adults are his siblings, and he can tell, but… it’s hard to wrap his head around. And why did _he_ have to be a teenager again, anyway? How does that even make sense?

He hears another shout, but this one is of excitement. He hopes that that means Vanya and Five are doing well, wherever they are.

“Heyy, Diego. Whatcha thinking about?” Klaus asks, staring at him with a soft smile from across the counter they’re sitting at.

That’s another thing. For some reason, one of his siblings has to be around him _all the time_. Well, excluding bathroom trips and sleeping, anyway. It’s annoying to be followed around everywhere. He just wants some time to _breathe,_ even if he doesn’t necessarily have to. 

No matter how much he fights this arrangement, his family will not budge. It’s ridiculous. Sure, they’re older, and sure, the world is ending, but he's capable of handling himself. He’s done it before, so he can’t see what’s so different _now_. And honestly, even just a _day_ to himself would give him some relief. He hates turning a corner only to see one of his older siblings keeping a watchful eye on him. At least some of them have the capacity to make it somewhat subtle. As much as he appreciates the concern, it’s making his life a living nightmare.

Instead of voicing any of this (although he has to admit, he’d tried to fight it for a while, and continued seething the majority of the time that someone was watching him), he tries not to snap at Klaus. That wouldn’t do anything good for any of them, after all.

“N-nothing,” he replies with a shrug. He picks up one of his knives and studies the way it gleams in the artificial lights of the kitchen. The atmosphere of the entire mansion feels so different now that Reginald is gone.

Oh, right. Their dad is dead. He’s… not really sure how to feel about it if he’s being honest. On one hand, the guy wasn’t a good guy, not in the slightest. He was a horrible person and a worse father. But is it right to be glad that someone is dead? Gone? Out of your life forever? He supposes that if someone like _that_ leaves, there’s some kind of exception.

But, yeah. For a while, everything seemed to be coated in dust, barely touched for ages. It’s like their dad only ever stayed in his office.

Now, though, it all feels so much brighter. Happier, almost. His siblings fill it up with so much life. He can barely understand how this place, which had seemed so dark and dreary just a couple of days ago, can all of a sudden be so lively and cheerful.

He’ll still wake up late and feel his heart rate skyrocket, thinking he’ll be in a lot of trouble. Then, he remembers that the only one who would punish him for that is dead. It’s hard to get it to finally sink in.

With all of these things happening, it’s difficult to believe that any of this is true. He finds himself constantly wondering when he’ll wake up from this fever dream. It feels too good to be true sometimes. Like when he wakes up and someone’s made him breakfast. The little things have him questioning if any of this is real. If maybe this is some kind of torture, showing him what he can’t have.

But it feels so _nice_. If this is torture, someone must’ve been high when they were brainstorming, because he’d do this any day. 

Wow, that’s weird to think. But it’s true, isn’t it? No more training, no more missions, no more _specialized training._ It’s all gone.

He smiles. For once, he feels happy about something other than his performance. It’s kind of nice.

“You’re smiling.”

Right. He schools his face into something more neutral. 

“A-am not–!”

“You smiled! Diego Hargreeves smiled!” Klaus claps excitedly, leaning in closer. He’s grinning widely, somehow stunned at the fact that he smiled. It wasn’t even that noticeable.

“M-maybe I did,” he admits, “but you saw nothing.”

“Well, what are _you_ so happy about, little brother?”

Diego cringes, “We’re the same age!”

“Correction: were. Now you’re a cute little teenager!” He groans.

“M-m not _cute_.” Klaus smiles.

“Okay.”

Most of his siblings seem to have some kind of soft spot for him. Maybe it’s because he’s like a blast from the past. But why would remembering something from the past be a _good_ thing? Either way, they seem to think that he’s _oh-so-adorable_. It’s strange when they try to do extra things for him, like make breakfast or say good night or just try to be overall _nicer_. It’s not _bad_ , but he doesn’t need to be coddled all the time. Maybe they aren’t even thinking about it. They’re just… doing it.

Everyone but Five, at least. He likes to spit out the cold hard truth. It’s honestly pretty relieving to be treated like an adult. He barely stops to think that maybe Five knows what it’s like to be underestimated.

He’s sharpening his knives on autopilot now, not paying attention because he’s just so wrapped up in his mind and his thoughts. He barely realizes that he’s cut himself with the deadly blade in his hand until he sees the blood.

Okay, this is fine. It’s not even that bad. He just has to hide it from Klaus, and anyone else that might want to stick a band-aid on it.

He sets the knife down, puts it back in its place. He stands awkwardly, covering his injured hand from view. Klaus makes a confused noise, so Diego points to the bathroom.

“What happened to your hand? Did–” he gets up and moves around the counter so he can take a closer look– “did you get cut?” Diego shrugs.

“It-it doesn’t h-hurt.”

“Aw, well, c’mon, let your big bro put something on it.” He takes the hand in his and stares. He leaves for a second and comes back with a band-aid. He sticks it on and Diego examines it.

It’s Go Diego Go themed. Diego rolls his eyes but can’t help the small smile that slips its way onto his face. It’s so _stupid_ , but it makes him feel so much _better_.

“Thanks, Klaus.” Klaus nods.

“No problem.”

He hesitates, staring at his knives. He grabs the one he’d nicked himself with and goes to wash it. Klaus watches very carefully, probably in case he hurts himself again. But that was an accident.

Once he’s cleaned it up (because bloody and dirty knives bother him more than they should), he stares at his brother expectantly.

“What?”

He stares harder.

“Whaat? What is it, mi hermano?” Diego smiles.

“W-wanna do something?” It’s weird because usually, he’d be far away from any kind of _hanging out_ like this. But he wants to enjoy some time with his siblings. Maybe it’s because of the fear that all of this will vanish, or maybe it’s just because of how _nice_ everyone is. But he smiles awkwardly, and yeah, maybe this was a bad idea. Klaus seems to hesitate.

“Yeah, of course. What were you thinking?”

“M-m-maybe we could just… p-play something?” Klaus grins like he’s got some brilliant idea. He runs off, and Diego just watches, hoping that he’ll eventually come back.

A few minutes pass, so he packs up his knives and fiddles with the case he keeps them in.

Klaus comes back and pulls him to the living room. His siblings are all setting up a game of Uno, even Five and Vanya, who must be done for today. He smiles again. There are seven stacks of cards. 

He doesn’t question it, just grabs one, and sits with the rest of his family. Klaus seems to focus on something, and then Ben appears, sitting next to Diego.

“W-w- Ben,” he whispers, staring at the ghostly blue form of his brother. Ben smiles at him.

“Hey, Diego.”

Diego kind of wants to hug him but decides against it. Ben hasn’t even been dead for that long. But he missed him. A lot.

So they all play Uno together until the sun goes down. Ben wins, and then Vanya wins. Allison and Luther suck. Five, Diego, and Klaus are just kind of mediocre.

After a few more rounds, Klaus stands, stretching. He goes to his room with a quick, “Be right back!” before he disappears down the hallway. Allison gets up and goes to the kitchen while Klaus comes back with fairy lights. He hangs them up and turns the TV on. Diego can hear popcorn in the background. Luther gets up to help Allison while everyone else decides on a movie.

“How about Finding Nemo?” Vanya suggests. Klaus sticks his tongue out.

“Noo.”

“Bambi?” Five asks.

“Aw, booo, that’s too sad!” Klaus says, rejecting the movie.

“The Lion King?”

“Hmm, well… no, no. Sad.”

“Aladdin?”

“Fiinee. That one’s not too bad.” He turns it on and everyone crowds together. Luther and Allison hand out popcorn and they all watch a bunch of Disney movies.

It’s nice to be together like this. Maybe after the whole end-of-the-world thing, they can do it more often. But for now, this will have to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Ben isn't just mentioned anymoreee woooo


	4. Day Of Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Didn't even reread this yeet, hope it's decent enough to read lol  
> It's,,,, the day of the apocalypse, that's basically it honestly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who commented: thank you!! I really like reading comments/getting them, but I get nervous and I don't know what to say. But uuhhhh I saw it! And yeah! Thanks!  
> Thanks for the kudos :3 it makes me happy  
> Thanks for reading this in general, to be honest. I know it's not that great! I'm trying lol
> 
> So basically, thanksss, for being here, for commenting, for giving kudos, for just. Reading! I appreciate it!

Diego barely slept at all last night, too busy thinking about the end of the world as he knows it. None of the other Hargreeves slept very well, either. Probably the nerves.

It’s early in the morning right now. The sun is still down, so it’s dark outside. The house is quiet, and all the lights are off. Diego is resting in his bed, staring at the ceiling with a tired gaze. He smiles to himself, even though today’s going to be a terrifying day, in all ways possible. Maybe it’ll all go fine. It probably will.

They have to hope, at least.

He sits up, yawning quietly. He slips out of his bed, with the white sheets and the not so fuzzy blankets. Might as well walk around, see if anyone else is up like he is.

He changes into some casual clothes, mostly black, and slinks into the hallway. He hears whispery voices coming from downstairs, somewhere near the kitchen. He can only assume that some of his siblings are up.

He walks down the steps as quietly as he can and peeks his head into the room. _All_ of his siblings are talking in the dark of the morning, probably excluding him. He knows Vanya and Five wouldn’t, but the rest are wild cards.

“H-hey,” he whispers. Everyone shuts up and stares as soon as he makes his presence known.

“Hey, Diego,” Vanya greets with a small smile. She beckons him over, and he stands with her. He looks around. 

All of the Hargreeves children are huddling around the kitchen counter. It’s dark, and no one bothers to flick on some kind of light, so Diego can just barely make out their faces. He knows what this meeting is about, though: Vanya. Her powers. The apocalypse.

“S-so today’s the e-end?” Five nods.

“It was. Hopefully, I’ve – _we’ve –_ done enough to change it this time around.”

“Do you think it _was_ enough?” Luther asks. Five shrugs.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

There’s a pause, a momentary silence as everyone considers this. There’s not much left to say. Either it happens, or it doesn’t.

“So, who wants breakfast?”

* * *

After breakfast (which was some decently cooked eggs Klaus made), everyone goes quiet. It seems like no one wants to leave for the day.

The sun is up now, beams filtering in through the blinds. There’s a light downpour outside, which had started just a few minutes ago. The inside of the mansion is slowly growing darker because of the storm brewing. Allison brings down a bunch of scented candles and lights them around the house. Diego personally likes the floral-scented ones the best.

So, he’s sitting in his room, all by himself. There’s a pink rose-scented candle resting on his bedside table. The light flickers, as candles do. It’s nice to be alone, but it’s also kind of strange now that it’s happening.

He stares out his window. It’s raining harder now.

He hasn’t gone on a mission for a while. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course. Those were wildly dangerous and unpredictable at times. He misses helping people, that’s all. It’s what he’s done for so long now. It’s his whole life, at this point. Or, it _has_ been. Now he’s doing whatever he wants to do, and it’s terrifying. The routine he’s been a part of for so long just came crumbling down. He’s got nothing.

Although, he’d be lying if he said he’d never wanted it to stop.

He doesn’t know what to do anymore.

He gets up and decides to read a book. He searches through their deceased dad’s collection, but all he can find are books over his reading level. Although that never stopped anyone from giving them to him. He remembers just a few years ago when he was struggling to comprehend his books. Reginald would hand him something that no kid could understand and expect the impossible. He remembers staying up for hours trying to finish just a _few_ pages.

He’s not sure what the book was about, but it was difficult. For him, at least. He knows that someone like Luther would be able to finish it with ease. He sighs, shaking his head. He looks at all of the books again, reads their spines, checks their covers. He finds an old ratty children’s book, tucked away in the bottom of the shelf. His mom used to read it to him every night until Reginald found out and forced her to stop. It looks older than he remembers.

He picks it up and stares at it, turns it around in his hands. _Goodnight Moon._ It’s always been his favorite, mostly because of its simplicity. It’s probably the only child’s book in the house, now that he’s thinking about it. Their dad would probably read them stories about war to get them to go to sleep. That is if he ever cared enough to read them something.

He smiles and finds himself on the floor, hugging his legs to his chest and opening the book. It’s been a while since he’s read it.

_In the great green room_

_There was a telephone_

_And a red balloon_

_And a picture of–_

“Oh, hey Diego,” Vanya greets with her quiet voice. Diego jumps but offers her a tiny smile.

“H-hey.”

“What are you reading?” she asks, gesturing to the now-closed book in his hands. She sits down next to him and he hands it over.

“Goodnight M-moon.”

“I didn’t even know we had this…”

“M-m-mom read it to m-me a lot.”

She smiles and flips through it with him, only because she’s interested.

When they finish the book, she puts it back on the shelf, just in a more accessible spot. She gets up, brushing off her knees, and helps Diego up.

They find their way back to the living room, where Five is sitting. He greets them with a small nod.

Eventually, everyone finds their way into the kitchen for lunch. Diego doesn’t eat much. None of them do. They all go their separate ways again once the food is gone.

He walks the halls of the mansion, not really going anywhere. It’s later in the day. It… actually seems like they’ve saved the world?

Of course, it could always happen on a different day. _Any_ day. But Vanya’s gotten so much better with her powers. Diego doesn’t think she’ll cause it again.

As the day goes by, seconds turning into minutes, minutes turning into hours, the family seems to relax. The rain keeps going strong, but no one _really_ minds.

When the sky is dark, and the stars are on display (even if they’re barely visible due to an abundance of clouds), everyone finds their way to Vanya’s room, one by one, until the room is filled with antsy siblings.

Since it’s late, there’s not much to do. No one wants to leave the room for too long.

They decide to play Truth or Dare, Never Have I Ever, and other games like that. Five had suggested Monopoly but nobody else wanted to play it. Too long and soul-crushing.

There’s a cherry-scented candle resting on Vanya’s windowsill, right next to Klaus. They’re all sitting in a circle. The rain won’t stop. But it’s nice.

And when the clock strikes midnight, they all cheer. Get snacks and dance, sing, throw a party. Run around wildly, no care in the world. Even if it could still happen tomorrow or the day after. Because it’s _progress._

And that’s as good as it’s going to get right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I fixed it! >:3


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. I just have other ideas and to be honest, I don't like this one all that much. Maybe it's because I wrote it, haha.

“So,” Five starts, leaning back in his seat. He’s sitting opposite Diego, in one of the many rooms of the mansion. He didn’t even know this one had existed, prior to this morning, which… isn’t all that surprising. He missed a lot when he went to the apocalypse.

He stares at his brother, trying to work out how to fix this mess. He’s not too keen on the idea of time travel. Again. It doesn’t seem very practical, and he’s sure if he keeps looking he’ll find something. Maybe there’s some kind of injection (though he knows Diego won’t be too happy about that one), or some sort of physiological thing he could do. 

But he needs more information before he starts doing anything like that. Which is why he’s interviewing Diego. He needs to know how old he is, the last thing he remembers, and a few other things, probably. Hopefully, he can get this sorted out quickly, because although it’s nice to keep his mind on something, he’s also tired. So, so tired.

His eyes fall to the teenager sitting across the table. He’s stiff in his seat, hands. Five doesn’t bother offering a smile. That’s… not really his thing.

“First question: what’s the last thing you remember doing, well, before we showed up?”

Diego shrugs, “I-I was on a m-mission.” Five sits back.

“I’m going to need you to tell the truth if we want to fix this.” Diego flinches.

“I-I am telling the truth!”

“Fine, we don’t have to do this. I’m leaving.”

“N-no, wait– I was, um. Doing special training.” He hangs his head low, and Five considers this.

“Okay, so this was after the mission?” Diego nods. He writes this down.

“Out of curiosity, what kind of training?”

“Um. I was in the t-tank.” Five tilts his head.

“The what?”

“The t-tank. It’s where I see how long I can hold my b-breath.”

“And how long can you?”

“I-I’m not sure. W-we stopped after fourty-eight hours.” Five raises his eyebrows.

“Impressive.” Diego shrugs.

“I guess so.”

“I didn’t even know you had those powers…”

“O-oh.”

“Anyway, next question…”

That’s how the rest of the interrogation goes. Five thinks he might be able to just age Diego with some kind of injection. He’s definitely not time-traveling again. It took so much out of him last time, and this doesn’t seem like a worthy cause, especially if there are other options.

He frowns. He hadn’t even known, prior to talking to his brother, that Diego could hold his breath indefinitely. Maybe it was some kind of trauma. They were all emotionally constipated, after all, so even though this is surprising, it makes sense that Diego hid it. Well, he doesn’t know _why_ Diego hid it, but he knows… _why._

He rummages through a bunch of dad’s old things, hoping to find something. There’s got to be _some_ kind of fix, somewhere in here. He’s sure of it.

* * *

It takes a few days of searching and talking to Pogo to find what he was looking for. It’s going to be an injection, which he knows Diego will hate. But it will age him, and, hopefully, restore his memory as well. They’d made this specifically so his memory could be repaired, so he’d be shocked if it didn’t work. Well, more like disappointed, but still.

He finds Diego in the living room, sitting on the couch. He sits down next to his brother and clears his throat.

“I found a solution.” Diego perks up.

“Y-you did? What is it?”

Five winces, “You’re not going to like it.”

Diego seems to hesitate, “What is it?”

“It’s an injection. But it’ll give you all of your memories back, and age you. If you ask me, it’s worth it.”

Diego cringes, “I-is that the only way?” Five nods.

“F-fine..”

He hadn't expected it to be that easy. Maybe it’s because Diego really wants to be older again? He shrugs and leads Diego to the exam table in the crappy examination room. He gets the syringe, with its sharp needle, and Diego passes out.

Oh, maybe that’s why, then. He shrugs and injects Diego. He doesn’t know what to do after that, so he just leaves.

* * *

Hours later, Diego wakes up as the correct age. He slides off the exam table and avoids looking at the needles in the room. He looks around and takes a minute to think.

Why is he here? Weren’t they supposed to stop the apocalypse?

He jumps when Five teleports into the room.

“Oh, you’re up. Hey, Diego.”

“Why am I here?”

“Well, we stopped the apocalypse, but you were a teenager. Took a while to fix that bit there. What, you don’t remember?”

“Not really,” Diego says with a shrug. He moves past his brother and steps out into the hallway. Five follows.

“You don’t care?”

“Nope. You can fill me in.” He reaches the kitchen and starts to make himself a sandwich. Five sits at the counter, in a stool, watching.

“So, we came here, and taught Vanya how to better control her powers.” Diego nods, “And you were a teenager. That’s all there is to it.”

“All right. Was I cute, at least?” Five shrugs.

“Everyone else seemed to think so.”

“Hmm.” Diego pulls out the peanut butter and sets it down. Five stares, trying to remember something.

“Oh, right, you mentioned some kind of tank?” Diego flinches, dropping the knife he’d been using to spread the peanut butter onto his sandwich.

“I- I what?” Five watches him carefully.

“I didn’t know you could hold your breath.”

“Everyone can.”

“Not for forty-eight hours they can’t.” Diego cringes.

“So I told you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh well. It’s not even that useful.” He finishes making his sandwich and takes a bite.

“Well, in certain situations it could be.” Diego doesn’t respond to that, just eats in relative silence.

Once he's done, he goes to talk to the rest of his siblings. He explains that he’s back, that he doesn’t remember the week or so that he was a teenager, and that he’s happy about the apocalypse. He tells Vanya he’s proud because he is.

His siblings are glad to hear he’s back (or well, most of them; Klaus says he misses when he was a teenager, which, ouch, but he thinks it’s a joke?). They all group together for once, make plans for the future. They just enjoy each other’s company.

So… he’s back. And this feels pretty great right now, sitting on the floor, watching cheap movies with his family, arguing about whether claymation is terrifying or not. He hopes that there will be more days like this. He knows there will be.

And that’s all he needs right now, in this moment.


End file.
